Shingle Street is a small hamlet on the Suffolk coast with a few cottages by a large area of shingle beach. The southern tip of Orfordness reaches off shore and so marks the entrance of the River Ore. Just up river is the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve Simpson's Saltings, which is an area of saltmarsh. The Shingle Street area consists of shingle beach, saltmarsh, lagoons, some dykes with reeds, grazing land known as Oxley Dairy, farmland and at the cottages areas of garden and allotments.

The area is mainly known as a good site for migrants with species like redstart, wheatear and whinchat regularly encountered at the right time of year. Around the allotments spotted and pied flycatcher can be found and occasionally a red-breasted flycatcher along with a number of warbler species including scarcer species such as yellow-browed warbler and pallas's warbler. Firecrest are also seen annually.

Around the farmland areas corn bunting can still be found and hunting over the cattle grazing fields short-eared owl are a regular winter visitor along with resident barn owl. Raptors can also be seen with marsh harrier and merlin frequently spotted and the occasional hen harrier.

Offshore cormorant feed in the swell where the river meets the sea and sea duck such as common scoter and eider are sometimes present. It is also a good place to look out for common seal.

A number of rare birds have turned up at Shingle Street and in recent years include lesser grey shrike, radde's warbler, purple heron, red-flanked bluetail and pied wheatear.

The area is also important for a number of plant species, specialist shingle species such as sea pea and yellow-horned poppy can be found amongst the large patches of sea campion.